Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



No. 747,663. PATBNTED Dam 1903. J. N. THOMAS. Q I

MAIL BAG GATGHER AND DELIVERERL w APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 21. mos. no101m NITED STATES Tatented fiecember 2Q, 1903;

PATENT OFFICE.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER AND DELIVERE R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 747,663, datedDecember 22, 1903. Application filed August 21, 1903. Serial No.1701260. (No model) .To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES NICHOLAS THOMAS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Leadville, in the county of Lake, State of Colorado,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag vCatchersand Deliverers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail-bag catchers and dcliverers, wherebyconsiderable trouble and wear on the mail-sacks is prevented and theduties of the postal or mail clerk made lighter. r

The objects of the present'invention are to simplify and render moreeffective and serviceable such devices.

One of the main objects of my invention is to provide means at thestation, as well as upon the moving car, for both catching anddelivering a mail-bag, these devices being 'so constructed and arrangedas to assnrethat the mail-bags will be properly delivered at the stationand taken up by the car.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the mail-bagcatcher at the station as to take up the bag when the train is movng ineither direction.

A still further object is to so construct the apparatus that thoseportions which are mounted on the car may be removed from one side ofthe car and set up on the opposite side, so that the devices on the carmay be used in whatever direction the train may be moving.

These being some of the objects in view,my invention consists of certainfeatures of construction and combinations Of parts to be hereinafterdescribed, and then particularly claimed, reference being had to theaccon1 panying drawings, showing adesirable form of my invention, and inWhich- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved mail-bagcatcher and deliverer, such parts only being shown as are necessary toillustrate theinvention, parts being broken away for the sake ofclearness and other parts being in dottedlines. .Fig. 2 is an enlargedtop view of the lower portion of the mail-bag catching and deliveringdevice at the station. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the poron the floor ofthe car.

plan view ofthe swinging device mounted on the car, which serves tosupport the-upper end of the bag which is to be delivered and also totake up the bag at the station. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 55, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a cross-section on the line 6 6, Fig.

4; and Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse sec-- responding with'the length,of the mail-bag, is an arm'e', pivoted to the standard I) at e, whichat its opposite swinging end supports a double arm f, which" extendstransversely able fastening devices. The double arm f Below. the leverc, 10- cated ata distance therefrom preferably corto the arme and issecured thereto by suitextends in a direction parallel with that of themovements of the train,one end,f, being forked or bifurcated and theother end, f being likewise constructed. Pivoted to each of thebifurcations is a dog composed of two and the other portion, f a keeper.The pivots f of these dogs are both located on the same side of thedouble arm f. These dogs swing in planes parallel with the plane of thedouble arm and may be moved so that the trips f may bridge the gap orthroat of each bifurcation and so that the keepers f may be thrown bythe impact of the mailbag against the trips to bridge the gap or throat,and thereby serve to catch the bag and hold it in'place. dle portion ofthe double arm f are two catches g,which arepreferablyin the nature ofumbrella-catches, which permit the trips f to snap past them and to beengaged and held thereby. At the outer end of the swinging arm 6, beyondthe'double' transverse arm Arranged at themid- .portion, f f located atan angle relatively 'to each other, the portion f forming a trip hornscl. The horn at one side of the lever c and the hook at thecorresponding side of the arm 6 serve to support a mail-bag 11 to betaken up by the train if moving in one di- 5 rection, while the horn andhook at the opposite sides of the lever and arm support the bag to betaken up by the train if moving in the opposite direction.

The mail-car a likewise carries devices for [O delivering a bag to thedevice at the station and for catching a bag which is supported at thestation to be taken up., To this end there is arranged across the door aof the car a transverse rock-shaftj, which is journaled in bear- :5 ings7t 7t, located at opposite sides of the door. A forwardly-projecting arme is mounted at its rear end on.the rear end of the shaftj by means of aset-screw or other removable fastening device Z,which permits the arm Zto be loosened or rigidlyheld on the shaft. Between the portion Z of thearm and the bearingkis located asuitable elastic cushion m, which may beof rubber or a helical spring. The shaft j is so mounted in its bearingsthat it may :5 haveaslightlongitndinal reciprocation therein. whichpermits the cushion m to act as a buffer and take up any shock. At theother end of the rock-shaftj a cotter-pin it passes through a suitablehole in the shaft. By re- ;0 moving the cotter-pin and loosening the armZ the shaftj may be slid out fromits bearings and be placed in bearingsat the opposite side of the car, so that the devices supported therebymay be used when the train is moving in ;5 opposite direction. The armZsupports near its outer end a backwardly-projecting hook o, the samebeing removably held on the arm by means of a clamp 0. This hook 0supports a clip-spring 0 the free end of which to extends in thedirection of the free end of the hook. As shown in detail in Fig. 5, theshaft j is provided with flat portions j and upon these flat portions 2.spring p, which is secured to the side of the car, presses. It will beseen t5 that by giving the shaft a forward rotation the spring 19 willbear upon one of the flat portions, and thus support the armland thehook o in a differently-adjusted position. It is evident that the numberof faces j on the ;o shaft may be altered as desired. A correspondingspring and likewise corresponding bearings 70 k are located at theopposite side of the car.

Another portion of the device mounted on ;5 the car is arranged on thefloor of the car and comprises a transverse guide q, preferably open ateach end and similarly constructed at each end, so that a slide 0',which is guided therein, may be shifted for use at one side of ie thecar or the other. The slide r is of sufficient length so that whenshifted out longitudinally a hook r on its outer end will be locatedapproximately under the hook 0 above it. Fixed alongside of the hook ris a snap- 5 spring T the free end of which extends in the direct-ion ofthe free end of the book, so as to form a spring holding device. At thesame side of the slide 1' as the hook r is ashoulder s, the inner end ofthe slide beyond the shoulder being reduced at 7 A spring 25, providedwith a projecting portion is fixed at the end of the guide q, and acorresponding spring is fixed at the other end of the guide. This springbears at this projecting portion 25 upon the slide r and serves to pressthe slide, so that when the same is slid out as far as allowed byasuitable limiting device the shoulder 3 is pressed into engagement withthe end of the guide, and the slide cannot be pushed in until thistendency of the spring is counteracted by pressing the slide toward thespring.

The entire-apparatus is used and operates as follows: When a mail-bag tis to be delivered to a moving train, the baggage-master causes theloops in the ends of the mail-bag to be engaged with the horn cl and thehook h, which lie or extend in the direction of the movement of thetrain. The dogf f adjacent to the moving train, is set so that theportion or tripf will bridge the gap of the bifurcation f. The bag u isengaged by its loops with the backWardly-projecting hook 0 and the hookr on the train. When the bag it is so supported, the parts will be inthe position shown in Fig. land the throat or gap between the arm Z andthe shaft j will be in position to catch or gather up the bag 2 at thestation. As soon as the devices on the train meet the devices at thestation the bag t' is gathered up and the bag u delivered into thebifurcation f On being received into the bifurcation f the middleportion of the bag u strikes the trip f and throws the dog so that thekeeper f will be brought across the bifurcation behind the bag and thetrip will be sprunginto engagement with its catch g. Thus the bag willbe securely retained in the double armf by means of the dog f f Havingthus described my invention, what Iclaim as new therein, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the station-standard, a double arm supportedthereon having 0ppositely-extending forked ends,pivoted angular dogs onthe forked ends, one end of each dog forming a trip and the other end akeeper, catches between the forked ends for engaging the trips to retainthe keepers across the forks, and means on the car for delivering a bagto the arm, for substantially the purposes set forth.

2. The combination of the station-standard, a double arm supportedthereon having oppositely-extending forked ends provided with means tobe tripped by and to engage and retain a bag, oppositely-projectinghooks adjacent to said arm for catching the lower end of the bag to bedelivered to the train, means provided also with oppositelyprojectinghooks or horns for supporting the upper end of the bag to be delivered,means on the car for catching the bag at the station, and means fordelivering a bag to said arm, for substantially the purposes set forth.

3. The combination with a car, of a pivoted mail-bag support thereon,thepivot of which has fiat portions, and a spring for engaging said flatportions and for holding the support at various angles, forsubstantially the purposes set forth.

4. The combination with a car of a pivoted mail-bag support thereon,provided with a forwardly-projecting arm forcatching'a bag and abackwardly-projecting hook for delivering a bag, said hook beingadjustablyse cured to said arm, for substantially the purposes setforth.

5. The combination with a car of a pivoted mail-bag support thereon,provided with a forwardly-projecting arm for catching a bag, abackwardly-projecting hook, and a spring fixed to said hook and theouter end of which is free to cooperate with the hook for retaining anddelivering a bag, said hook being adjustably secured to said arm, forsubstantially the purposes set forth.

6. The combination with a car, of a pivoted mail-bag support thereon,provided with a forwardly-projecting arm for catching a bag,abackWardly-projecting hook for delivering a bag and a clamp forremovably securing the hook to the arm, for substantially the purposesset forth.

7. The combination with a car provided with bearings, of a shaft in saidbearings,

longitudinally on the floor of the car and provided at its outer endwith a'hook, and a spring fixed to the hook and havingafree end adaptedto cooperate with the hook to retain the lower end of the mail-bag fordelivery, for substantially the purposes set forth.

9. The combination with means on a car for supporting the upper part ofa mail-bag, of a slide on the floor of the car and provided with ashoulder, means at the outer end of the slide for catching the lowerpart of the bag, and aspring pressing against the slide to engage theshoulder with a portion at the floor of the car, for substantially thepurposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JAMES NICHOLAS THOMAS.

Witnesses:

EVERETT LORD FAHNESTOOK,

ROBERT S. APLIN.

